Healthy and Unhealthy Fear

We ought to be thankful for some forms of fear. Fear prompts us to check on the kids in their beds when a sound wakes us at night. Fear makes us grab a child who is toddling out into the street.

Some forms of fear are healthy and provide protection. But when fear becomes the center of our lives, dictating our action or inaction, it ceases to be helpful and becomes a hindrance to our growth. When we shut ourselves away in our homes, insulating our families from the “harm” in the world, we also separate them from interaction in life as well as from the potential good they could accomplish in a world that needs the love of Christ.

In which camp do your fears fall? Does your fear serve you well by protecting you from harm? Or does it hold you and your family back from your God-given potential?

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